Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You can't simply decide you want to change your mind because of a little stress. Sympathy is found in the dictionary, not in the law. There are no 'do overs' in the law. If you breach this contract without legal cause, you risk being sued by the other party, and the brokers. Not only would you not get back your deposits, you could be compelled to go through with the contract, plus pay all their attorney fees and costs incurred in the suit to make you do so. In this bad real estate market, there are not likely other buyers for the sellers to sell to and let you out of the deal. That only happens in a rising 'sellers' market. This isn't one. Even if you could somehow magically persuade the sellers to let you out, all the costs have been earned by escrow, title, etc. and more importantly, the brokers would certainly sue you for the commissions already earned. If a broker approached any attorney with such a claim against his customer, he'd happily take the case; it's a sure winner.

Mr. Nelson is right. If you terminate the agreement to purchase the property, you are in breach of contract, and could be sued. Your deposit could be looked to for a portion of the seller's damages, and your purchase agreement most likely contains an attorney's fees clause. If you lose a lawsuit against the seller you would end up paying their attorney's fees. If you can't handle the stress of buying a home, you are certainly not going to like the stress of a full blown lawsuit.

I am, quite frankly, astounded at Mr. Nelson's answer. If you have fully performed the contract and are ready to close on the day called for in the contract, and the transaction does not close, not only are you entitled to pull out of the contract, but YOU are entitled to sue THEM. As they say, however, the devil is in the details and you do not provide any in your question. In order to give you an opinion about cancelling the contract, I or any other attorney would have to review all the transaction paperwork and the facts and circumstances as to why the transaction has not yet closed. It certainly sounds like your agent is doing a terrible job, however. If they are not an independent broker, I suggest you take the matter up with their supevising broker. You clearly are not receiving appropriate advice and explaination of what is going on.

If you would like to take this a step further and get an attorney involved, I would be happy to schedule a telephone consultation at no obligation, and if it looks like you need legal representation at this point we can discuss how best to handle that. Although I am based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I maintain a satellite facility in Orange County and regularly practice in Southern California.

Well, having the advantage of reading the others' answers, it's easy for me to say "it depends." You may or may not have grounds for declaring the deal dead. If you don't, your agent has likely earned her commission, and if not paid, would likely sue you for it. This in addition to all the other costs and losses you might face by torpedoing the deal without a valid legal justification for doing so. Find a lawyer, get an initial (free, perhaps) consultation, and be guided by your attorney's advice on whether you have solid grounds to terminate the contract.